The FM24 Youth Academy Challenge

[libbyshuss]

Japan - Honda FC/Haneda

Division J1 - 2037 (Season 14)

Objective: win the champions league and compelte the challenge!

Season Summary

Well, I haven't managed to complete the challenge yet, but i'm getting closer!

2036/37 Champions League - The Japan season runs from Feb - Nov, whereas the Asian Champions League follows a traditional May-Sep calendar so there's weird crossover every year. So this is what happened to our campaign we started at the arse end of last season.

We qualified from the group and got a tough draw in the knockout - Seongnam of Korea. We drew away 1-1 and then a narrow 3-2 victory at home saw us make the quarter finals. We got a nice draw - fellow Japanese side Sanfrecce Hiroshima, who we had done the double over in the previous season. So obviously we performed terribly and lost both legs....

Really frustrating - they should have been easily winnable games for us.

League - We led the way for most of the season, slipped up at the end and ended up losing it on goal difference on the final day. Bah.

2037/38 Champions League - so the season end always co-incides with the group stage of the Champions League, which can play havoc with your run ins. We got a ncie group, a terrible start, but comfortably progressed in the end

And who did we get in the 2nd round? Sanfrecce Hiroshima again!

 

Players

Still rocking the 4-1-2-3 as it seems to really suit our players. I do enjoy a 3 striker formation when I can run one as well.

Maicon 34A and Ren Ninomiya 33A cemented their places in the first XI and became two of our best players in the process. Ninmiya in particular had an amazing season! 34 goals in a 3 striker formation is amazing. I might go to a single striker formation just to see how he can do....

 

Youth

An underwhelming preview and, on first look, an underwhelming intake. But a closer look revealed a potential future club captain in there!

That personality coupled with promising mental stats means i'm gonna try and mould him into a future captain

 

Career

[Brentmeister]

Season 5 Review

Back to the top flight we go!

Another excellent Division 2  campaign saw us in and around the automatic promotion spots all season, finally securing automatic promotion in the final round.

It was less straightforward this time though with 4 points separating the top 5 teams. It was a battle for automatic promotion right up to the last weekend.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

Youth

Another intake that was labeled as excellent

 

When the players arrived I was not disappointed

 

8 elite talents, led by star man Christophe Leroy.

The only downside of the intake was that 9 of the players had an unambitious personality. This seems really high for 1 personality to dominate so much.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

'The Next'....

A feature that I've always loved while doing this challenge, is when the media dubs one of your newgens as 'the next'....

Right now in our squad, we have the next: Michel Preud'homme, Philippe Albert, Lorenzo Staelens and Emile Mpenza.

I'd love to hear any of your players dubbed 'the next'

 

Here's the next Philippe Albert who has firmly established himself at the heart of our defence

 

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

Other stuff

~ No transfers in

~ A few transfers out due to the board giving me a negative transfer balance and then complaining that I have a negative transfer balance

~ No upgrades or coaching courses

~ We won our 3rd Manager of the Year award

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Edited November 26, 2023 by Brentmeister

[andershs]

Macclesfield FC (England)
Season 8 - 2031/32 - VNL

 

What a bitter, bitter way to end the season! Why are there not two automatic promotion spots in the Vanarama National League? Having vented my frustration, I am also incredibly proud of this season. We were brilliant all season, and finished with a ten games winning run, and were incredibly strong all season if January is excluded from the picture. I don't think I have tried that before at this level.
Ultimately, in the play-off final, less than ten minutes away from the English Football League, we collapsed. Lights out. End of season. That is tough to take. But we were running on fumes at that point.

League (Results 1, Results 2, Cups, League Chart) - The young players keep improving and gets better and better. That resulted in a season where we were continuously in the play-off spots and briefly went top of the league. We finished in second place with 101 points (!), but sadly lost in
the play-off final against third placed Dulwich Hamlet. With three matches left to play we had an outside chance of automatic promotion. The table looked like this and our fixtures like this. We continued winning, but it wasn't enough. Opposite other years, as noted, we finished the season strongly, going on a ten match winning run before losing in the final in extra time.
Truth be told, we were under siege for most of the game, which is underlined by the xG of 3.84 for Dulwich Hamlet compared to our measly 1.35. We fought like beavers however, but in the end, accumulated fatigue catched up, and they scored the equaliser in the 84th minute. After that there was only one winner. What makes this even more annoying is that we actually beat Dulwich Hamlet twice in the league.
In the FA Cup we were convincing as well, beating Fleetwood Town and Dorking Wanderers from League Two, which set us up against Arsenal at The Emirates with 60.000 in attendance. I couldn't have asked for more, and it earned us a good amount. Our strong season was also highlighted by us reaching the fifth round of the FA Trophy.

Team (Details) - The core group of the team is getting really good. Good or Leading VNL players with room for further improvements and Astley Rawson - 28C as well as Gavin Kershaw - 28E are Good League One players, all according to my coaches. Furthermore, given my good economy, I have them tied down on contracts until the summer of 2035. At left back, Joshua Roberts - 28J is our starter. He gets overlooked because he hasn't got the potential like some of the other players, but for this level he is really good.
I feel like this team could be a mid table team in League Two with the ability and talent present, but the Vanarama National League is just difficult to leave behind. We managed to cope without Exaucé Binguila - 26B (See under transfers below). Andrzej Gawlik took over and has developed nicely. At 18, he is already our best central defender. Other strong and developing players are our right back Luke Kyle - 28F, midfielder Charlie Roddan - 28B, right winger Connor Muir - 26C and winger Anthony Coyne - 28H. Enock Coo - 29D came back from a season on loan and reinforced the defensive midfield.
Dieter Bickerdike had a good season. I almost lost him though, as his contract was up at the end of the season and he complained about squad depth in the goalkeeper position. I promised him the youth players would develop. This has helped before. He wasn't impressed. He did changed his mind however. After the season, we will say goodbye to legend and club record appearance maker Lewis Fensome when his contract expires. He has been excellent, but his current level is far from good enough.
If we keep hold of the players, we should be in for another good season next year.
A couple of sidenotes: Our 20 year old goalkeeper Astley Rawson - 28C is now with lengths our must valuable player and one of our absolutely best players. He is on contract until summer 2035. With established Championship clubs interested and him wanting silly amounts for extending the contract, I might consider selling him
next summer if we are not promoted. He might be the one that secures us financially with a percentage of next sale clause, and we have some improving back ups in Kemoy Mason - 30B, James Reece and Joe Duggan - 31B. But in the short term, we might suffer, if I decide to go forward with a sale.
Nicky Payne - 25D is a strange story. His contract is up after this season, and he is only two star potential who can become a leading VNLS/N player. On the other hand, he has been an almost regular starter and played 250 games for the club. When he came through he had a four and a half star potential. Judging by star ability he hasn't moved at all since the intake. I think I will release him. There are better and more promising youngster that can take his place.
But it also shows how much we have improved in the last few years with the maxed out intake facilities.

Facilities - No changes here.

Finances - Still very good. The FA Cup game at the Emirates against Arsenal, and the sales of Charlie Hopley - 28A and Exaucé Binguila - 26B helped cancel out the minor deficit we are facing yearly after going fully professional and increasing the wages.

Youth Intake (Dev. Centre, Preview) - Not impressive. Davis Rainford and Marcus Hearne look promising. Jonathan Lougheed, Deane Fradley, Luke Dainty, Shaquille Bayode and Aaron Knox are ok. I hope it is just a minor blip because we changed the Head of Youth Department and since the general level of our players are increasing rapidly in these years. One thing I overlooked about our new HoYD Paul Ashworth is that he prefers 5-3-2 and I play 4-3-3.
That might be a problem going forward. We will have to see. I have extended his contract until end of next season.

No Transfers in - Dieter Bickerdike changed his mind on staying at the club due to the recent signings that were made?? Well, not by me. On the sales side however, a lot happened. Having sold right back Alan Corcoran - 25B last year to Peterborough, I decided to sell Charlie Hopley - 28A to Reading in the Championship.
I got 50% of next sale clause. Because he was grumpy, and since he was the one I had the most difficulty in incorporating in the team (a Raumdeuter/Trequartista right wing? I am old school CM93/94, so these roles in that position are like a dangerous black box to me ). Moreover, due to the fact that Championship clubs were interested and that we had good cover on right wing. Furthermore, Exaucé Binguila - 26B was sold in the summer before the season started, when Salford activated his minimum fee clause.
Foolishly, I did not offer him out to other clubs with a percentage of next sale clause, so he is gone for good with no potential financial gain in the future. The approx. £125.000 we got is no gamechanger. A percentage of the next sale might have been.
Striker Reece Ord - 26A is still at Bristol City.

Goal for next season: I hope we can have another go at promotion next season. The quality of the players is there. My current gutfeeling however is, that this was the year, and we missed it. I hope I am wrong, but it depends on whether we can keep hold of our best players.

 

Edited November 26, 2023 by andershs

[Brentmeister]

25 minutes ago, andershs said:

Macclesfield FC (England)
Season 8 - 2031/32 - VNL

 

What a bitter, bitter way to end the season! Why are there not two automatic promotion spots in the Vanarama National League? Having vented my frustration, I am also incredibly proud of this season. We were brilliant all season, and finished with a ten games winning run, and were incredibly strong all season if January is excluded from the picture. I don't think I have tried that before at this level.
Ultimately, in the play-off final, less than ten minutes away from the English Football League, we collapsed. Lights out. End of season. That is tough to take. But we were running on fumes at that point.

League (Results 1, Results 2, Cups, League Chart) - The young players keep improving and gets better and better. That resulted in a season where we were continuously in the play-off spots and briefly went top of the league. We finished in second place with 101 points (!), but sadly lost in
the play-off final against third placed Dulwich Hamlet. With three matches left to play we had an outside chance of automatic promotion. The table looked like this and our fixtures like this. We continued winning, but it wasn't enough. Opposite other years, as noted, we finished the season strongly, going on a ten match winning run before losing in the final in extra time.
Truth be told, we were under siege for most of the game, which is underlined by the xG of 3.84 for Dulwich Hamlet compared to our measly 1.35. We fought like beavers however, but in the end, accumulated fatigue catched up, and they scored the equaliser in the 84th minute. After that there was only one winner. What makes this even more annoying is that we actually beat Dulwich Hamlet twice in the league.
In the FA Cup we were convincing as well, beating Fleetwood Town and Dorking Wanderers from League Two, which set us up against Arsenal at The Emirates with 60.000 in attendance. I couldn't have asked for more, and it earned us a good amount. Our strong season was also highlighted by us reaching the fifth round of the FA Trophy.

Team (Details) - The core group of the team is getting really good. Good or Leading VNL players with room for further improvements and Astley Rawson - 28C as well as Gavin Kershaw - 28E are Good League One players, all according to my coaches. Furthermore, given my good economy, I have them tied down on contracts until the summer of 2035. At left back, Joshua Roberts - 28J is our starter. He gets overlooked because he hasn't got the potential like some of the other players, but for this level he is really good.
I feel like this team could be a mid table team in League Two with the ability and talent present, but the Vanarama National League is just difficult to leave behind. We managed to cope without Exaucé Binguila - 26B (See under transfers below). Andrzej Gawlik took over and has developed nicely. At 18, he is already our best central defender. Other strong and developing players are our right back Luke Kyle - 28F, midfielder Charlie Roddan - 28B, right winger Connor Muir - 26C and winger Anthony Coyne - 28H. Enock Coo - 29D came back from a season on loan and reinforced the defensive midfield.
Dieter Bickerdike had a good season. I almost lost him though, as his contract was up at the end of the season and he complained about squad depth in the goalkeeper position. I promised him the youth players would develop. This has helped before. He wasn't impressed. He did changed his mind however. After the season, we will say goodbye to legend and club record appearance maker Lewis Fensome when his contract expires. He has been excellent, but his current level is far from good enough.
If we keep hold of the players, we should be in for another good season next year.
A couple of sidenotes: Our 20 year old goalkeeper Astley Rawson - 28C is now with lengths our must valuable player and one of our absolutely best players. He is on contract until summer 2035. With established Championship clubs interested and him wanting silly amounts for extending the contract, I might consider selling him
next summer if we are not promoted. He might be the one that secures us financially with a percentage of next sale clause, and we have some improving back ups in Kemoy Mason - 30B, James Reece and Joe Duggan - 31B. But in the short term, we might suffer, if I decide to go forward with a sale.
Nicky Payne - 25D is a strange story. His contract is up after this season, and he is only two star potential who can become a leading VNLS/N player. On the other hand, he has been an almost regular starter and played 250 games for the club. When he came through he had a four and a half star potential. Judging by star ability he hasn't moved at all since the intake. I think I will release him. There are better and more promising youngster that can take his place.
But it also shows how much we have improved in the last few years with the maxed out intake facilities.

Facilities - No changes here.

Finances - Still very good. The FA Cup game at the Emirates against Arsenal, and the sales of Charlie Hopley - 28A and Exaucé Binguila - 26B helped cancel out the minor deficit we are facing yearly after going fully professional and increasing the wages.

Youth Intake (Dev. Centre, Preview) - Not impressive. Davis Rainford and Marcus Hearne look promising. Jonathan Lougheed, Deane Fradley, Luke Dainty, Shaquille Bayode and Aaron Knox are ok. I hope it is just a minor blip because we changed the Head of Youth Department and since the general level of our players are increasing rapidly in these years. One thing I overlooked about our new HoYD Paul Ashworth is that he prefers 5-3-2 and I play 4-3-3.
That might be a problem going forward. We will have to see. I have extended his contract until end of next season.

No Transfers in - Dieter Bickerdike changed his mind on staying at the club due to the recent signings that were made?? Well, not by me. On the sales side however, a lot happened. Having sold right back Alan Corcoran - 25B last year to Peterborough, I decided to sell Charlie Hopley - 28A to Reading in the Championship.
I got 50% of next sale clause. Because he was grumpy, and since he was the one I had the most difficulty in incorporating in the team (a Raumdeuter/Trequartista right wing? I am old school CM93/94, so these roles in that position are like a dangerous black box to me ). Moreover, due to the fact that Championship clubs were interested and that we had good cover on right wing. Furthermore, Exaucé Binguila - 26B was sold in the summer before the season started, when Salford activated his minimum fee clause.
Foolishly, I did not offer him out to other clubs with a percentage of next sale clause, so he is gone for good with no potential financial gain in the future. The approx. £125.000 we got is no gamechanger. A percentage of the next sale might have been.
Striker Reece Ord - 26A is still at Bristol City.

Goal for next season: I hope we can have another go at promotion next season. The quality of the players is there. My current gutfeeling however is, that this was the year, and we missed it. I hope I am wrong, but it depends on whether we can keep hold of our best players.

 

To get 101 points and not go up is brutal.

With a year of growth for the players, there's no reason you can't do it again next season.

[Neo_Geo]

Has anyone ever had the Unique ID from a previous intake be used in a following year? I assume they retired when I didn't sign them up and the UID was recycled

My latest intake came in with two players having the "YP26-D" suffix on their name (the previous years intake) and my license file showed that the UID was indeed reused from the previous year......just freaked me out a bit and though those players were trying to sneak their way back in 

Edited November 26, 2023 by Neo_Geo

[Makoto Nakamura]

2030 Youth Candidates

Less 5* PA players this year but with our recent youth facility upgrade we'll get improved batches in the next couple seasons.

[Makoto Nakamura]

2030 End of Season Review

Two big wins to finish the seasons sees us finish in our highest ever position again, progress!  We played 76 matches this season. 

Overall Best XI

2030 Best XI

Ronaldo (ResD)

Vavá (YP4d) - Jonathan (ResE) - Fabricio Baldo (YP2j)

Pereira (YP2h) - Denis - Athanagildo (YP4c) - Elizeu (YP2g)

 

 

Alan (YP0g) - Dener (YP1n) - Chrigor

[Colossus]

Sociedad Deportiva Leioa

2031/2032 Season Review

 

Season Review

Competitions | League Table | Transfers | Schedule Part 1 | Schedule Part 2

 Oh my god! At the mid point of the season I said that maybe we could dream with the playoffs and not only did we do that, we actually got promoted! Still crazy to me that that happened, what a run from the lads

 

Team Stats

Team at the Start of the Season (forgot about this one) | Team at the End of the Season

Team Stats

We might have been lucky with our major players staying pretty fit during the season and that certainly helped us on the promotion!

 

Standout Performers:

1 - Koldo Garai

Played every single game of the season, was amazing throught but really stepped up at the end. 35 goals contributions in all is an amazing return!

 

2 - Aritz Melendez

Our rock at the back. The type of CB that all FM players dream about, with his height and aggression he sometimes just bullies opposing forwards and is a very real assets on dead ball situations.

 

3 - Ignacio Villanueva

An "off" season for Ignacio but still managed to be our main creative force down the flanks. Will be very curious to see how he steps up to La Liga

 

Youth Intake

Not the best intake overall, but a couple of players that can help us really improve the center of our midfield.

 

Rest of the players:

GK – Imanol Etxaniz

RB – Koldo Arrizabalaga

CB / RB / LB – Endika Munoz

CB / LB – Inaki Albisu

CDM / CM – Angel Alonso

RW / RM – Unai Uriarte

CM / CAM / LW – Ander Larrea

ST / CAM – Ignacio Moreno

 

Other Stuff

Yearly Progression

 

Manager Attribute Progression

 

Youth Player Stats

Gora Leioa!

[Gonner]

Austria Salzburg, Season 6, 2029/2030

 

Season Recap :

Bit of a spoiler to begin with this screenshot, but WE ARE GOING TO PLAY IN EUROPE BOYS ! WOOHOOO.

OK, let's rewind and see how we got there. You can see on the screenshot above that the calendar was very "binary" for us. We played the 4 best teams (Rapid Wien, Austria Wien, RB Salzburg & SK Sturm) one after the other, which gave us hell but also meant that the next 7 games were all somewhat winnable. And we did do pretty good over October & November, even sweeping Austria Wien in the regular season, to finish that first phase in 4th place, right in the mix with Austria Wien & Sturm Graz, the usual suspects for the 3rd spot on the podium. Last season recap I had told you about the "three levels" in the Austrian League, we can clearly see it here with RB Salzburg & SK Rapid taking advantage of that sweet C1 money to fight for the title, we managed to get in the fight for the podium and then the rest of the league is separated by 8 points, save for WSG Tirol. SV Ried is the promoted team and they missed on qualifying for the playoffs by a point.



So, after all points were halved, this is how we began the pool phase.


The draw gave us the opportunity to face the other "normal team" in the pool twice to begin, and we took advantage of this by getting the full 6 points. And boy am I glad we did, because the rest of the schedule was pretty dramatic...


SK Sturm managed to leapfrog us and take the final C3 position.


But the Cup saw very few surprises (maybe our QF victory ?) and the two best teams met in the final, which meant that we would have another European playoff battle to play after finishing 5th.
 

SV Ried managed to hold on to their 7th spot and went on to win against LASK in the 7th / 8th playoff, so it was going to be a battle between the last two promoted teams to get into the Europa Conference.


We won that battle, so Europe here we come ! 

Transfers :

That screenshot is always quite useless in the season recap because it comes before any move takes place, but at least it shows we did not purchase anybody. But we got some movement !

Some of you may recall that some days ago I asked about the "loan back clause". Well, real-life manager sickness prevented me from posting this recap as early as I had liked, but our LB Patrick Sauer was wanted by Bayern & MU and had a 4.5M€ clause. 

Well friends, I think we did as well as we could. Total may reach 4.4M€, 50% on the next sale, and we kept the lad for the whole season. 



Still sad to see this beast of a FB leave us, especially considering what we will have to do with (more on this later) but he had clearly outgrown us.

And what a progression ! This is his screenshot from when he joined us.

I also had the weird idea to join the last day transfer frenzy, and two other players left.

First, Denis Brauer, a recent regen who was constantly asking for more playing time even though he was like my 5th or 6th best midfielder. I might come to regret it, but the offer was too good to pass.


Then, Dominik Abesser, who was very adamant he would not resign for us. I will try and learn from this and try to always resign my players 18 months in advance. But he wanted quite the amount of money and when you will see the state of our finances, it was just too much.

Finances : 

Same as the transfer tab, this screenshot in the season recap just gives us a partial view. We did a little bit better almost everywhere but...
the trend is not looking good. We got promoted to the Bundesliga in June 2028 and it's been downhill ever since. The end of the "Austrian player bonus" plus the full time wages of our staff and the cost of our youth setup has seen us lose about 200K€ a month. That Sauer transfer should put us in the black again but the European competition money cannot come soon enough.

Squad :


Boy will that Sauer departure leave a gaping hole at LB. He was our best LB and quite frankly probably our best CB as well... I guess Bah will move to LB and play as a No-Nonsense Full Back, with Kiene covering for him with the same role. Imamovic will end up being our second CB as well as our second option for Right Full Back. So yeah, 5 players to cover 4 spots... In midfield, I would have been happy to see Abesser stay with us but the situation is less catastrophic. Todorovic seems to have slown his progression, but Neumann is our clear number 1 CM. The second spot will be between Todorovic and Armin Bauer, our 2028 regen. In attack, Dorfmayr has been pushed to the bench by the explosion of Götz, who typically plays second striker and Gül Advanced Forward.
Finally on the wings, Bandlow has almost no competition and Kraft does not seem to progress quickly enough to dislodge Fötschl, which makes him the last of the Mohicans, our last non-regen player in the first XI.

Picture below is from the last Austria Salzburg - RB Salzburg derby that occured in September of this year !

Admin & Facilities :

Révélation

No money but the board seems set on pursuing their vision of enlarging the stadium, so we will spend the better part of next year away from Salzburg.

Club vision : 

Révélation

Same as last year, board & supporters agree. As long as they are onboard with using the club's youth system, I can do with the rest.

Bonus : 

Révélation

2nd best U-19 player in the world huh ? That's why he is asking for 92K€ / month... I doubt I will be able to keep him much longer sadly.

Youth Intake : 

Forgot to screen the preview because it was nothing to be amazed at, but this is what we got. 2 elite talents, 4 top talents, seems like our worst intake since the beginning of that save.

Svetozar Rakic : This batch is disappointing in quantity but Rakic may well be one of the best prospects we ever got. He might make me think about changing my formation to include an attacking midfielder.

Révélation

Haris Mujkic : Might be able to bring some needed competition to Bandlow if his potential is as good as advertised. 

Révélation

Joshua Wagner : I do not usually screenshot "top talents" because they rarely make it to the first team, but with only 2 elite I did not have a choice this year. Plus Wagner might actually be able to replace Aksu from time to time.

Révélation

 

Pero Kirnbauer : Honestly, midfield is one of our strengths and I already cannot give enough playing time to my most promising youngsters, I doubt Kirnbauer will see any meaningful minutes unless he progresses quickly in our youth team.

Révélation

Joachim Ehret: Tough to be the second best at your position in a youth batch and hope for playing time. Like Kirnbauer, we will see if he progresses quickly and can climb the ranks.

Révélation

Mohammed Azzouzi : Will be in the mix with the forwards we got in 2029. My first Belgian !

Révélation

 

 

Game in a nutshell :

 

Edited November 26, 2023 by Gonner

[officiallydeej]

Dulwich Hamlet - 2029/30

Vanarama National League - 4th (Playoff Winners!)

 

 

What a way to bounce back from our disappointing mid table campaign last season! We flew out of the traps and were top of the league until fatigue hit us in November. Our form generally held this season though and although Gillingham ended up winning the league at a canter we finished 4th on 85 points, our highest total in the National League so far. We played attacking football this season, scoring a frankly ridiculous 135 league goals and conceding an equally bizarre 87.

Into the playoffs and we battered Hartlepool 6-2 in the first round, with 4 goals from our striking sensation Jonathan Jewell 29a (more on him later). We then beat Stevenage 1-0 in the semi final in what was both of lowest scoring game of the season. Other than a 2-0 every one of our games had at least three goals with the highest scoring being an early season 8-3 dismantling of Dartford who would go on to register only 14 points and concede a record breaking 136 goals.

The final was a true nail biter. Rakeem Thomas 25b gave us the lead in what was going to be his final game for the club. Our best player has agreed to join Queens Park on a free (no compensation again grr!) but was determined to go out with a bang. That lead held until the 95th minute when a cross from the left broke our hearts with an equaliser taking my exhausted team to extra time. We managed to pick ourselves up and 16 year old substitute full back Sam Mole 30c picked the perfect time to score his first career goal! That still wasn't enough as Gateshead carved through us again to equalise.

The penalty shootout saw a fitting end to Thomas's Dulwich Hamlet career, sending the keeper the wrong way with his final kick in a Hamlet shirt to send us into the football league!

I've been doing this challenge for years, sometimes posting here and sometimes not, but this is the first time I've ever got into the league in England. I've no idea how next season will go but I can't wait to get started.

 

Cups

On the face of it this doesn't look that exciting, a first round defeat by Doncaster in the FA cup wasn't anything to write home about.

The interesting part of this however lies in the trophy. I was on a 6 game winning run going into the Bromley game, who although I didn't take much notice noted they were in the National League South and so with a full team out I expected to beat them comfortably. That wasn't the case and they absolutely battered us 4-0 on our own patch. I had a look into them after the game and found out that the tycoon who was sniffing around us a couple of years ago actually bought Bromley last summer! They won the National League South with 117 points and only 1 defeat and I'll be keeping an eye on how far they can go before the money runs out.

 

Star Players

  

 

After scoring so many goals it's no real surprise three attacking players are here again. A first appearance for Jonathan Jewell 29a was well deserved after an incredible return of 32 goals and 9 assists in only 29 starts. He's only actually my third best striker on paper and started the season on the bench, but I couldn't keep ignoring his true poacher instinct after he kept popping up with goal after goal. He displaced Caldwell from the team entirely in the last 10 games and repaid my faith with 4 goals in the first playoff and an ice cool pen in the shootout in the final.

Sam Caldwell 25b also makes this list but as mentioned above actually finished the season either on the bench or playing deeper in midfield. He still managed 17 goals and 17 assists in 30 starts, but he is unhappy and with only one year left may leave us next summer. The saving grace is he's done this twice before and mellowed before signing a new contract each time.

I couldn't leave Rakeem Thomas 25b out considering his heroics in his final game for the club. His last season was his best yet, registering 18 goals and 13 assists from his inside forward role. He leaves us 83 goals in a whopping 247 appearances since coming through in the golden 2025 intake. He is also a regular for his country scoring 19 times so far in 42 caps for Antigua and Barbuda. He leaves us for Queens Park who are now established in the SPL and will be facing off against Paul Moro 25a who has just completed his third season with Dundee.

 

Youth Intake

 

 

There's quite a bit of potential here and it's probably the best intake I've had since 2025. Two casual personalities isn't ideal however and I don't currently have any tutors to fix that. I like the look of Mark Goddard, a tough tackling full back who I can definitely work with. Right back is a position we aren't strong in and he's likely to see some minutes next season. Darragh Kelly is another player I like the look of, and with both Rakeem Thomas and his understudy not signing contracts and leaving us this summer Kelly is, perhaps alarmingly, our strongest remaining left winger at the club.

 

Admin

 

 

 

Our finances are still in the black, though this was helped by making the playoff final at Wembley. I don't think there is much more money in League Two next season, and with my squad paper thin already I probably won't have much of a go at either the League Cup or FL Trophy, at least for the first season or two. We sold out quite a few home games and I imagine it's only a matter of time before the board get giddy and take out another loan and start expanding again.

No transfers out, Chad went to Bognor Regis on loan but will be coming back next season to help Kelly fill the left winger void.

I've no idea what to expect next season and I don't know how big the leap is. Some teams seem to go up and sail through (Crawley who I played in the 2029 Fa Trophy final are now half way up League One), and others like last year's National League winners Ebbsfleet end up cut adrift and come back down with a whimper. I have no ambitions whatsoever expect finish 22nd and hope the intakes continue to improve. By rights our squad probably wasn't good enough to go up, we were predicted 24th by a large margin so we'll have to see how our all out attack fairs at the next level.

[bpecanha]

VILLA ESPAÑOLA - 2025 SMALL UPDATE

I wasn't going to update things here until the end of the season, but I just played one of the most epic games of my entire in Football Manager. So, before the start of the Uruguayan Second Division, teams play a tournament called Torneo Competencia. 14 clubs are divided in two groups and, after six matches, the best team in each group qualifies to the final. Our tactic worked really well, and Villa Española managed to win all six games in the group, to my entire surprise. And we were playing well, not just winning, which is even best.

We were going to face Uruguay Montevideo in the final. I was expecting a tough match, but they outclassed us in the entire first half. They went to the half-time winning 3-0, and it could've been more. In the dressing room, I've subbed my RPM and went with a trio upfront, two Advanced Forwards and one Target Man. I did this in the final minutes of the match against Rocha and it paid off, as you can see by the late, late goals. However, Uruguay Montevideo scored 4-0 in the 53th minute. At this point, I was hoping that I could avoid an humilliation. But the team suddenly clicked. I hadn't changed anything since the fourth goal. And then this happened:

I don't know how we did that, but we simply turned into prime Real Madrid for the rest of the game and scored 8 GOALS. Uruguay Montevideo looked powerless, especially during the extra time. A fabulous win. Now we are champions of Torneo Competencia. What does it means to us? Not too much, but we have actually secured a spot in the league playoff semifinals, even if we finish dead last. Now, teams are going to play 26 games in the regular season, but the Overall Table already looks like this:

And what about relegation? Well, there is another table with Average Points, they take into consideration this season and the last one (if you're promoted or relegated, they'll only count the current season). So even if we have a terrible regular season, we need to finish at least in 12th place.

[Neo_Geo]

Hapoel Ra'anana
Season 3 (2026/27)

Firmly established in Premier Leauge
Another 4th place finish and 5 fewer points than last season however we had an improved goal difference due to conceding less than lass year and scoring a little more overall. Maccabi Tel-Aviv won the league again and this time by a much bigger margin and we lost all 5 games against them although much closer than the previous season. I have still stayed true to my attacking formation and mentality as I look to shape and mould the best youth players into an attacking machine. I'm always wary of rapid growth at clubs as its usually not sustainable therefore being the 4th best side in the country 3 seasons in is a really great position as far as I am concerned and something to build upon as we hopefully get some gems come through our maxed youth academy setup.

The increased number of matches (56 in total) proved to be too much for this young and lightweight squad. The scheduling of domestic games in the early season really didn't help with the Thursday night European game being following by a Saturday then Monday night Premier Cup game before playing in Europe again. In Europe we played Dynamo Kyiv beating them 3-2 at home before having to go to extra time in Ukraine coming out on top with a 7-5 aggregate win. In the next round it was one of my old teams from the Ultimate challenge, Vikingur of Iceland, who we dispatched 10-1 on aggregate leaving Dnipro-1 in our way to reach the group stage. A 2-0 away win followed up with a 4-3 win at home meant we had made it to the group stages in our first attempt so I was very pleased with this outcome.

We finished 16th on the group stage with 3 wins, 1 draw and 2 losses, in the Knock Out Play Off round we played Dun Streda and won 6-3 on aggregate as the large scorelines continued. In the last 16 Red Star proved to be too much for us with a 5-2 win on aggregate (the home game I was down to 10 men and nearly got the 2-2 but for a 92nd minute winner but it mattered little as they were too strong at their own ground). I really can't complain except for the fact Glentoran improved by 143 places whilst we improved 136 meaning I missed out on a bingo card objective!

The squad is shaping up quite well but I have taken the bold step of releasing a number of the original squad at the end of the season just ended. Here's how the Best Eleven looked this year:

Youth Intake

Spoiler

Quite pleased with the preview as 5 As wherever they are on the pitch is always a good start.

The intake was not that accurate given the striker and goalkeeper were top talents however the number of defensive midfielders and a really decent looking playmaker in Elisha YP27-A would give me much needed depth in the centre of the park.

      

   

Elisha YP27-A has gone straight into the first team as an advanced playmaker in the AMC position and is now being retrained as such. This is a key move given I have taken the bold approach to release Titelman who had been a big part of getting us where we are but he was in decline and 2 star current and potential at the age of 30, it was time to take the plunge and give youth a chance.

Admin

Spoiler

I hassled the board so many times this year for youth facility improvements getting shot down every time being told that they didn't want to hope that someone came through the youth team despite it being part of their vision. In May 2027 I asked again and got the same response then one month later the board approach me asking me of my opinions on improving the youth facilities......obviously I went ahead with it.

In addition to this I was able to get the training facilities now increased to 4 stars

I was also approved to go on yet another coaching course as I near the Continental Pro license (should be next season if I'm still in the job)

Only one transfer out of note, Rubin who had been first choice keeper was moaning about leaving to a bigger club and after offering him out to no avail I decided to get the disruptive influence out of the club and loaned him out to Hapoel Haifa

Bingo Card

Spoiler

So the only objective this year was Taddese YP25-A making his full debut for Ethiopia however it looks like he was one of those players who didn't have as high a potential as was originally estimated as its started to fall and his attributes taking a downward turn, so it may be his first and last appearance.

I came close with the most improved side in Europe, I reckon I've had my only shot at that as I'm now ranked 224th and its unlikely I will be able to get any improvement that will be more than one of the minnows who get that incredible season.

Next Season's Aims

Spoiler

• Top 6 finish - I'm not overly concerned about Europe, I've released some of the established players and I need the youth to come through and show signs of improvement which will undoubtedly mean dropped points
• Look to max out training facilities with the money we have available to aid in the development of the players getting more game time this season
• Beat Maccabi Tel-Aviv even if its an own goal in the 98th minute hitting of their central defenders butt!

 

[aldojags]

I'm just going to sound like a whiney bad loser, but is anyone else having a nightmare with injuries?

 

THis is 2nd save attempt in a row, I had my croatian save which i started amazingly, top of the league before the winter break, and came back to a first teamer being out for 2 months every game, despite resting them etc etc. I've got physios and all that!

 

Now im in Poland, same thing, i started amazingly, top of the league at the split, but like Croatia, save is being completely destroyed by losing usually my inform player for 2 months every few games, injuries have been a joke

 

Plus the common thing both saves have in common is I am WAY UNDER wage budget, but have lost best part of a million pounds in a year and I'm guessing unless I win promotion, i'm going part time, and the save is being **** canned for another year!

 

can u tell im in a good mood

 

 

[Neo_Geo]

Congrats on the promotion @officiallydeej and what a way to go up on penalties, I'd probably have just walked out the room at that point and come back to see what happened  (mind you I watched the penalties for my team Rangers vs Eintracht Frankfurt 18 months ago so I think I can take any disappointment with penalties now)

[corinthiano]

On 25/11/2023 at 07:11, corinthiano said:

First time attempt for me, am terrible at youth development so what better way to try to improve than trying this challenge

 

Went with SR Brasov from Romania. Brasov is in theory where Dracula is from and their log kinda plays into that which is cool. They were founded in 2017 by the supporters of the defunct FC Brasov. Facilities are not great and our squad is decent, only lacking quality at full backs and up front, but depth is going to be a challenge. Manager is from my last journeyman save in West Africa, lets see what a Ghanaian can do in Romania 

Manager Profile

  Reveal hidden contents

   

Club Info

  Reveal hidden contents

 

First XI

  Reveal hidden contents

 

Ok that was a very short lived attempt 

We were doing OK, just about surviving relegation, but with our best players unwilling to sign new deals things were looking bleak for next season. Also, I know I shouldnt say things like this in this thread, but I love signing players 

Massive respect to all of you attempting this challenge, I probably need some more time to muster up the courage again!

[karax268]

9 hours ago, aldojags said:

I'm just going to sound like a whiney bad loser, but is anyone else having a nightmare with injuries?

 

THis is 2nd save attempt in a row, I had my croatian save which i started amazingly, top of the league before the winter break, and came back to a first teamer being out for 2 months every game, despite resting them etc etc. I've got physios and all that!

 

Now im in Poland, same thing, i started amazingly, top of the league at the split, but like Croatia, save is being completely destroyed by losing usually my inform player for 2 months every few games, injuries have been a joke

 

Plus the common thing both saves have in common is I am WAY UNDER wage budget, but have lost best part of a million pounds in a year and I'm guessing unless I win promotion, i'm going part time, and the save is being **** canned for another year!

 

can u tell im in a good mood

 

 

I also had alot off injuries in my first seasons. Part of the reason I blame my failed portugal save on :D. First season in Turkey I also had alot. But my current season it is less.

I changed the training intensity to:

lowest fitness: no pitch or gym

middle three fitness levels: half intensity

Full fitness: double intensity.

 

So ar so good with injuries. I don't think it lessens the development of my players. But maybe it is too early to tell. I do make sure that my young players don't play a full match per week so they stay in the double intensity for longer.

For next season I will test out if putting my older first team regulars on half intensity for the entire year works. They can't really improve and I just need them to maintain and perform.

I should also say that my training schedules are fairly intense on their own.

[thomas_e]

Energie Cottbus

Season Summary 2034 - 2035

First serious title charge

 

Our first season combining Bundesliga with the Champions League and it was a hectic one. We did our best Bundesliga season yet, but getting forced to rotate a bit we fell well short in the Champions League. We got knocked out in the league round, but we did have some good games along the way and the experience was very important! 

Bayern Munchen won the Bundesliga with 7 points, which seems comfortable, but in reality it was a battle all season long between five teams. Bayern, Dortmund, Leipzig, Leverkusen and us fought it out, but in the end Bayern were too strong for us. 

We promoted a couple of players to the first team and one of them, Maik Schulz, is a special player. A tall, but still tecnical striker, he could be our Didier Drogba in a couple of years. Our top scorer for the last 5 years, Marco Stumpf, is a really good striker, but he is also very capable of playing in midfield, so in February I moved him down to midfield and promoted Schulz into the first team. He didnt score in his first 10 (!) games, but he finished the season with five goals in his last six games, and I have big hopes for next season! 

We had a fantastic intake preview, but the reality werent that great. The only highlight was Jochen Cramer

 

Season Summary

          

 

Key Players

          

 

Key Talents

          

 

[aldojags]

1 hour ago, karax268 said:

I also had alot off injuries in my first seasons. Part of the reason I blame my failed portugal save on :D. First season in Turkey I also had alot. But my current season it is less.

I changed the training intensity to:

lowest fitness: no pitch or gym

middle three fitness levels: half intensity

Full fitness: double intensity.

 

So ar so good with injuries. I don't think it lessens the development of my players. But maybe it is too early to tell. I do make sure that my young players don't play a full match per week so they stay in the double intensity for longer.

For next season I will test out if putting my older first team regulars on half intensity for the entire year works. They can't really improve and I just need them to maintain and perform.

I should also say that my training schedules are fairly intense on their own.

Thank you, i’ll need to pay a but more attention to it as it drove me nuts!

[aldojags]

28 minutes ago, thomas_e said:

Energie Cottbus

Season Summary 2034 - 2035

First serious title charge

 

Our first season combining Bundesliga with the Champions League and it was a hectic one. We did our best Bundesliga season yet, but getting forced to rotate a bit we fell well short in the Champions League. We got knocked out in the league round, but we did have some good games along the way and the experience was very important! 

Bayern Munchen won the Bundesliga with 7 points, which seems comfortable, but in reality it was a battle all season long between five teams. Bayern, Dortmund, Leipzig, Leverkusen and us fought it out, but in the end Bayern were too strong for us. 

We promoted a couple of players to the first team and one of them, Maik Schulz, is a special player. A tall, but still tecnical striker, he could be our Didier Drogba in a couple of years. Our top scorer for the last 5 years, Marco Stumpf, is a really good striker, but he is also very capable of playing in midfield, so in February I moved him down to midfield and promoted Schulz into the first team. He didnt score in his first 10 (!) games, but he finished the season with five goals in his last six games, and I have big hopes for next season! 

We had a fantastic intake preview, but the reality werent that great. The only highlight was Jochen Cramer

 

Season Summary

          

 

Key Players

          

 

Key Talents

          

 

Great season, like the look of the new striker, and the new centre half looks a great prospect too!

[CJ'43]

Kavala Football Club / Αθλητικός Όμιλος Καβάλα

Season 1 - 2024/25

Schedule / Squad / Transfers / Finances / Manager

 

Season Summary: To make this experience a little bit more realistic, all the players from South Eastern Europe were loaded (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Cyprus, Georgia, Greece, North Macedonia and Turkey), as well as all players from continental competitions in Europe.

The season started with a few changes in our squad roles. I changed the second captain and because of that Lazaros Tzelidis didn't renew his contract and end up leaving the club. We had an initial transfer budget of 1,25 million € and a wage budget up to 130k€/month, which really doesn't matter because we're currently spending around 25k€/month.

Betsson Super League 2: The media prediction was 16th place, the last of the surviving teams (not considering Olympiacos and AEK B).

The first game of the season in Greece is in late September, so for the first half of the season, we played two games a week to keep up with the 38-game season.

Early in the season we faced a disappointing premature elimination in the greek cup against a team from a lower division. However, in the league, the relegation was never in our horizon, as we sat comfortably mid-table for the whole season, thanks to the 19 goals of Kosmas Gekas and the performances of Thanasis Ioannidis.

Youth candidates (part 1, part 2): The youth intake was amazing, with a few players that will be in out first squad next season, specially Dimitris Manafis 25a, Alexandros Toungelidis 25b, Kostas Georgakopoulos 25c and Giorgos Boulgouridis 25d.

We established a new partnership with Olympiacos worth around 50k€/year.

With 6339 average attendance, we were by far the team with the most support during this season in the league.

Still no badges. Board rejected all my requests, and at the end of the season we saw our facilities being downgraded.

History:

Edited November 27, 2023 by CJ'43

[thomas_e]

 

When you have brought a club through the divisions you obviously have the boards trust, but for other top managers the Bundesliga is brutal! 

Nagelsmann has now been fired three times in four years!! 

 

 

[thomas_e]

Really happy with the number of affiliated clubs we have been able to get over the last few years. We are now represented in Belgium, France (x2), Poland, Portugal, Sweden, Netherlands, Romania, Norway, South Korea and Australia. 

Really easy way to get better intakes. 

     

 

[Makoto Nakamura]

2031 Youth Candidates

Six 5* PA players! Poor personalities but hopefully a very good intake, shame no good goalkeepers though!

[WhiteCat33]

29 minutes ago, thomas_e said:

Really happy with the number of affiliated clubs we have been able to get over the last few years. We are now represented in Belgium, France (x2), Poland, Portugal, Sweden, Netherlands, Romania, Norway, South Korea and Australia. 

Really easy way to get better intakes. 

     

 

This is the part of the challenge i miss the most playing in the Caribbean. No mater what you do, the board will never allow foreign affiliates

[steve.rush]

Well, that didn't last long!

Back to the drawing board

 

[Matsusipida]

IFK Lidingö Season 4 / 2027

We had a great start for the season getting 17 points from the first 8 matches. We just cuoldn't keep that up and we finished 10th once again. 

Spoiler

Hygo Lemne, Calle Sjöberg and Teo Brenner Thoris all scored 10 goals.

We lost our star player Omar Olsson after the season as he was too ambitious  (to be unambitious). We tried to renew his contract for like 18 months but he was always unwilling to renew as we couldn't match his ambitious or something. Milorad Mijailovic 25A took huge steps in development during the season.

Spoiler

Spoiler

We had some high potential talents in youth intake. We didn't get anyone to help us immediately. We are lacking fullbacks now as Omar Olsson has left. Ayberk Karagöz might get a lot of chances in the first team. We could do with someoen capable of playing as a goalkeeper. We still have our original goalkeeper and he ain't amazing to be honest.

Spoiler

Spoiler

We finally solved our financial problems and were able to improve our junior coaching. Youth recruitment was also improved but that was after the season so it won't be shown here.

Spoiler

Spoiler

Edited November 27, 2023 by Matsusipida

[steve.rush]

Staying in England

[Ron_Swanson]

[FM23] Reymersholms IK - season 11 - 2033

Nothing interesting this time. Most of them have 4+* potential but to be honest with our poor training facilities I'd rather have only 1 or 2 higher CA youngster who could immediately raise starting lineup qualilty than whole bunch of high potential players who will never reach it

Best season so far, most time we were in the upper half of table, even few points away from promotion playoffs at some point but we are not consistent with our form. Nevertheless I'm really happy, we are slowly improving. We need better performing defenders, I think that's the main reason of losing streaks.

New part of these updates titled "are you winning son?"

A lot of playing time does the job, we see some attributes rising, mostly physical.

[Makoto Nakamura]

2031 End of Season Review

Just the one win at home in front of a television audience but we've qualified for next seasons Libertadores through the league!

Overall Best XI

2031 Best XI

Ronaldo (ResD)

Vavá (YP4d) - Procópio (YP1f) - Jackson Caumo (YP4h)

Pereira (YP2h) - Denis - Ronaldo (YP5i) - Elizeu (YP2g)

 

 

Alan (YP0g) - Dener (YP1n) - Zequinha (YP3f)

[Anners]

Previous Post:

On 25/11/2023 at 19:42, Anners said:

Previous Post:

 

2038/39 Season Report

Club: Tranent FC (Scotland)
League: Scottish League One

League:

We actually should have finished comfortably inside the playoffs, but we had a very uncharacteristically poor end to the season, picking up 1 win in the last 5, including to both Queen's Park and Forfar which meant we finish slap bang in the middle of the table. I'm pretty disappointed with this season as we've actually managed to keep all the players, with our midfield and striker all being quite good League 1 standard. We're struggling for that next step though, moving up 1 division technically in 15 seasons is a bit of a slog, but we aren't going backwards at least. Just forwards. Veeeeery slowly.

Youth Intake:

Bit of an average intake here - nice bit of centre midfield depth here though.

Not actually that much to add here - Frimpong had a very solid season, but due to international games he probably played far too much and was too tired towards the end of the year.

2039/40 Season Report

Club: Tranent FC (Scotland)
League: Scottish League One

League:

This screenshot below shows what happened most of this season:

I know we're 9 points off top, but we really should have won this league. We lost so many stupid games through the season we should have won and only just managed to get in the playoffs. Although I do guess attention may have been directed somewhere else....

Anyway, a bit on that later. The playoffs!

We're back in the Championship! A fairly comfortable playoff run - we should have beat Partick Thistle but a late equaliser meant we needed to win away and we did just that. Another Solomon Frimpong goal putting us through there and he helped himself to a double in the away leg to Montrose, putting us back in the 2nd tier at the first attempt.

Cup:

Now here's the actual juicy bit of the season!

We finally went on a proper cup run!! And managed to absolutely FM Hibs, who have taken over Rangers in the top 2 of Scotland and have been in the top 2 for 11 consecutive seasons. Speaking of Rangers, they actually approached me for their job, so I got a look at their expections - them only wanting to avoid automatic relegation shows how far they've fallen!

Anyway, our 2 shocks:

I genuinely do not know how we managed to beat Hibs - Laird had a 9.3 rating in goal and you can pretty much see why! I don't think I had any nerves left, especially after the disallowed goal in the 87th.

We followed it up with a fairly deserved win over Ross County (still in the Premiership). Whilst the game against Hibs was a smash and grab, this one I felt we were always on top and thanks to a big stroke of luck by virtue of a 94th minute own goal, we managed to get into the Semi Final.

We were actually without Solomon Frimpong for the Ross County game, but you can see in our 4-3 defeat to Dundee in the Semi Final (Oh so close....) just how much of a difference he was and is in any game that we're involved in now.

Youth Intake:

A pretty below average intake for us here, although the potential is now a bit more accurate as I've got 2 players classed as Leading Championship players being 4.5 stars so we're able to see a bit more accurately now! Cairns and Ferguson (both MC) will hopefully fit quite nicely into midfield eventually, but other than that it's a fairly quiet one.

Team Round Up:

Every few years or so I'll do this as I'm concentrating more on results than the intakes!

Cup hero Gavin Laird (GK) is between the sticks for us and has very quietly become one of our best players. He was only supposed to be a leading League 2 potential player, but since he's got the starting spot he's just got better and better. Has made me think a little about the other players I've potentially missed in my own intakes!

Jamie Shand anchors our defence and whilst he's not the quickest, his mentals certainly make up for it. Has played in nearly every game for 6 seasons and is a pretty decent League 1 level player.

Jamie Gormal sits inbetween the defense and midfield and patrols the park pretty well. Was another quite like Laird in that his ability has shot up quite significantly and I'm quite excited to see what he can turn into.

Our central midfield pairing was featured last time (albeit 1 of them in a different position), but they've been so stable for us there. Here's 20 year old and 28 year old Bailey McKay - who I think will likely take a step back into central defence in the next couple of years. Beside him, here's 16 year old and 24 year old Harry Stewart, who whilst he's unambitious, has actually improved massively. Wasn't intending to play him in the centre of midfield, but he tended to stay there, especially as we've got another decent enough left attacking midfielder.

Gerry Winton, my cult hero so far in this save, is still around. Isn't putting in the same kind of performances as previously, but is still decent enough to start for us on the right wing.

Finally up front, the current Tranent main man Solomon Frimpong. He does have a couple years left on his contract, so it's likely I'll try sell him as he doesn't want to renew. Has 52 goals in 84 appearances since coming through for us a couple of years ago, and whilst he "only" picked up 26 goals for us this season, he missed 11 league games which shows just how reliant we were on him and was probably the reason we didn't go up automatically.

Facilities:

Just a little final bit here - we have managed to get ourselves a training facility upgrade thanks to the cup run - costing us just under £1m so hopefully we can get our players ability up a bit more as we have been hampered a little bit by it. We might have the youth setup, but we don't have anything past this which is what is limiting us.

[Anners]

Apologies for the double post, but there is definitely something weird with Youth Setup costs, in Scotland anyway.

Green highlighted parts with arrows are when I've been in the Championship, with the 35-36 and 39-40 season being spent in League One. I've had a very small rep boost this time (from 1.5 to 2.0 stars), which would explain the costs being £200k here rather than like before with £140k, but other than that there has been no change apart from in division. There's no initial season costs with League One, but there is with the Championship but I've no idea why.

[Newgenn]

19 hours ago, Neo_Geo said:

Has anyone ever had the Unique ID from a previous intake be used in a following year? I assume they retired when I didn't sign them up and the UID was recycled

My latest intake came in with two players having the "YP26-D" suffix on their name (the previous years intake) and my license file showed that the UID was indeed reused from the previous year......just freaked me out a bit and though those players were trying to sneak their way back in 

I've never had this, but did have a player come through with a real players picture. I've only ever had it happen once, and I can only assume it's tied to an ID number?

[Matsusipida]

A little update on key player I lost after last season. We were not good enough for him to extend. 

He was without a club for almost 3 months after leaving us and now he has signed to a team 1 DIVISION BELOW us. He must be very ambitious. 

Spoiler

Spoiler

 

[karax268]

Çankaya FK 2025/2026 Season Review

 

On the Field

 

League

Fixtures Aug - Dec | Fixtures Jan - May

We did it!

promoted as champion for the second year in a row. 

We started a bit unsure of ourselves with 3 draws in our first 5 games. But no losses. We settled in nicely at the top but never to comfortable as there was always a random draw to keep the rest of the pack close. A running theme of the season was that our defense was very easy to score against. But our offense would more often than not outscore the teams. 

With two games to go we secured direct promotion. The championship was decided on the last day where we had to match the result of Sivasspor to be crowned champion. we won our game while they drew.

Super Lig, here we come

Cup

Only one game this year. but what a game it was. shame we had to lose but it wasn't to be against top division opposition.

 

Squad

Awards

Best player: Adnan Emir Koldere

The full back was great all year long. Solid in defense while also chipping in with 13 assists and 4 goals. His goals also had a way to come in clutch moments.

Topscorer: Talha Aydemir 20 goals

For the second time he takes the title, though he had more competition this year as the next closest had 19 goals.

Young player of the season: Tunahan Bardakcı

He wins it by default, being the only player under 20 to make significant minutes in the first team.

Youth Intake

Berat Bingöl 26a | Bartu Büyükgök 26b | Cem Işık 26c

Much better this year, though I'm not thrilled with most personalities. 

Bartu Büyükgök 26b made his debut on the last day of the season, being the first tagged player to appear in a match for me this save.

 

Board

Finances | Transfers

The finances are not great but improving. our income went way up. However our wage costs grew more. Hopefully super lig money will see us in the black next year.

The year did not begin great when we were informed that the training facilities had been down graded. no amount of begging during the season could convince the board to invest in the training grounds. They did however improve the junior coaching. not once, but twice. They also approved better youth recruitment.

Meanwhile I got my National B, National A and Continental C coaching badges.

 

Next season

The pundits don't rate us highly and I fear they might be right. our 4th tier defense is getting even worse as players are leaving on frees and I have no one (yet) to step up.

 

 

 

[OlivierL]

Only in our second season, strange !

 

[XaW]

 

XaW - Cardiff Draconians - Season 2027/28 (Season 4) - JD Cymru Premier

Squad | Transfers | Finances

A much improved season where we not only managed to get into the upper bracket, but also finished in the top 3! However, since Penybont won the Cup, we still missed out on going into Europe next season. I'm not salty, no sir, not at all... Other than that this was a very good season for us, as we won the "best of the rest" league after Colwyn Bay and TNS ran away from the rest of us. Considering we now know we can finish this high, the next goal is getting into Europe and make some money. TNS and Haverfordwest are the only two fully professional sides in the league, and I want to join them!

My top 3 pick of players this season are:

1. Sam Howells 27a - Honestly, he is way out of our league, but I've nailed him down on a long term deal starting at the end of this season, and I intent to keep him as long as possible!
2. Sean Price 27b - The main creator in the team, and the usual outlet for any player in a tight situation. Can create goals from nothing!
3. Steve Tudor 25a - Not the best player, but even if the coaches doesn't rate his consistency, I do. He never plays poorly, but never dominates either though. Steady Steve!

Welsh Cup: We beat Coed Eva and Port Talbot Town before we lost to Carmarthen Town on pens in the 4th round.
League Cup: We beat Cardiff Corries before we lost to Penybont in the 3rd round.

I got some more improvements accepted this season.

Around the world

U19s:

They won the Cymru Premier Development League (South) this season!

Welsh Youth Cup: They beat Cardiff Corries, Afan Liod, Colwyn Bay, and Gap Connah's Quay before they lost to TNS in the semi final.

Youth intake:

Trophy cabinet

JD Cymru South - 1 (2025/26)

(U19s) - Cymru Premier Development League (South) - 1 (2027/28)

Player statistics:

Most apps for the clubs

Name			Nation		2nd Nation	Time at club	Apps
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Steve Tudor 25a		Wales		<N/A>		2025-Present	119
Lewis Brown 25b		England		<N/A>		2025-Present	113
Ross Jones 25c		Wales		<N/A>		2025-Present	113
Thomas Aboagye 25d	France		Ghana		2025-Present	75
Jon Owen 26a		Wales		<N/A>		2026-Present	66

Most goals for the club

Name			Nation		2nd Nation	Time at club	Goals
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lewis Brown 25b		England		<N/A>		2025-Present	52
Sam Howells 27a		Wales		<N/A>		2027-Present	28
Ross Jones 25c		Wales		<N/A>		2025-Present	18
Jon Owen 26a		Wales		<N/A>		2026-Present	15
Thomas Aboagye 25d	France		Ghana		2025-Present	13

Most assists for the club

Name			Nation		2nd Nation	Time at club	Assists
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lewis Brown 25b		England		<N/A>		2025-Present	26
Ross Jones 25c		Wales		<N/A>		2025-Present	23
Thomas Aboagye 25d	France		Ghana		2025-Present	21
Michael Porter 26f	England		<N/A>		2026-Present	16
Sean Price 27b		Wales		<N/A>		2027-Present	14

Supporters:

Summary:

[Neo_Geo]

Nice to see the TV Execs know exciting football when they see it...

[Makoto Nakamura]

2032 Youth Candidates

Not as awful as I thought it would be, a 6'4" DC and a 6'6" striker!

[Matsusipida]

1 hour ago, Neo_Geo said:

Nice to see the TV Execs know exciting football when they see it...

Lucky you. 

[Neo_Geo]

I usually don't do season update spoilers but given this is at the start of the season and I'm just too pleased about it I have to share it now....

I said in my season 3 update I wanted to beat Tel-Aviv and we did it in style in a high pressure match to win our first silverware of the save.

Robbie Keane left to Al Nassr which meant Vladimir Weiss took over and he played a flat 4-4-2 which coupled with them having a tired back line they just couldn't cope with Aviv, Abutbbul YP25-A and Rahmian. Ben Chaim YP25-A bagged a brace (one a stonker and the other a good reaction on the edge of the box) whilst Aviv scored an outstanding goal cutting in on the left as he does and bending it into the far top corner.

The formation is starting to mature a little and we are conceding slightly less 

[thomas_e]

Two games in to the season I am almost losing the dressing room, riots! We have played two games, beating RB Leipzig 3-2 away and Frankfurt 5-0 at home. But is the backup goalkeeper good enough? Not according to 15 of the players who are absolutely outraged. 

This was supposed to be the most polished FM ever? 

[Makoto Nakamura]

Portuguesa are champions of South America!!!!! Challenge complete!!

[Neo_Geo]

Congrats @Makoto Nakamura 

[WhiteCat33]

Well done @Makoto Nakamura, you blitzed through Brazil!

[Makoto Nakamura]

2032 End of Season Review

A 3rd place finish, our best ever performance in the league again and a Copa Libertadores win! Although who thought it would be a good idea to play to Libertadores Final in Bolivia and then 23 hours later have a match away at Atletico Mineiro? It's a 10 hour flight!

Overall Best XI

2032 Best XI

Ronaldo (ResD)

Fabricio Baldo (YP2j) - Adriano (YP1e) - Vavá (YP4d)

Pereira (YP2h) - Denis - Ronaldo (YP5i) - Elizeu (YP2g)

 

 

Alan (YP0g) - Dener (YP1n) - Zequinha (YP3f)

[Colossus]

Sociedad Deportiva Leioa

2032/2033 Mid Season Review / Youth Intake Preview

I am shocked. I was dreaming about getting 20 points all season, but we are being just so solid and still haven't really been destroyed by anyone. In terrible news, Athletic being in the relegation places is incredibly bad.

Very very top heavy, but I am not afraid of adapting some of those wingers to full backs or strikers to wingers

 

EDIT:

Well, there goes my starting striker. Just offered him out for 50% of next transfer, and got an offer from United for 7.5M€

Edited November 28, 2023 by Colossus

[Daddy]

2 hours ago, Makoto Nakamura said:

Portuguesa are champions of South America!!!!! Challenge complete!!

Congrats!

[Colossus]

Ander Martin accepted United's offer and I was able to cancel it, no matter what, I am selling him next season

[Daddy]

2024/25 Season Review:

Injuries hit hard in the second half and then form took a dive hard. Thankfully a win in the final match kept us up. 

All the spicey moves will be in the next year's update. As known finances in Belgium are awful. The club downgraded to semi-pro and a ton of offers came in for players. 

Really incredible by first-year intake standards. Quite a few immediately jumped into first team, and unfortunately quite a few of those players have already moved to first division clubs. 

2025/26 Season Preview:

I knew with the known Belgium finance issues this had short-run potential. However, I really like the idea of trying to make it work. This means a drastically different playstyle than I usually do. Until I can get the club into a good financial position I am not filling U21/18 roster or staff. Any Top Belgium or other teams come after players sell with clauses and friendlies. Even at the cost of maxing immediate value. Build up as many clauses as possible. This will also keep roster and budget sizes down. Well, that's the goal at least. 

[SkyjumperTalon]

On 21/11/2023 at 15:51, SkyjumperTalon said:

First Youth Intake preview... Nothing crazy. Not thrilled

 

https://imgbox.com/BzWMxfwM

Lokomotiv Leipzig Season 24-25

An amazing mid-season run helped to keep us afloat. Not the best youth intake, either.

Photos: https://imgbox.com/galleries#/RNkThXmeYx